Fantasy Baseball Friday: Grab Kris Medlen if You Haven’t Already

The Atlanta Braves pitching staff has not been overly fantasy-friendly this season with poor play from Tommy Hanson and Jair Jurrjens, but Kris Medlen should give managers faith in at least one of the team’s starters.

The three-year pro has started six games for the Braves and has recorded a total of six wins and one loss on the season so far. Medlen did start the season with Atlanta as a member of the team’s bullpen, but joined the starting rotation at the end of July and has been fantastic since.

The California-born hurler has not lost one game over his six starts and won five contests over that time frame. In those victories, Medlen has thrown a complete game, two other performances with seven or more innings of work and 38 strikeouts.

This recent outburst of dominance has Medlen ranked as the 66th best player in Yahoo leagues. Not too shabby for a guy that was recording holds before August began. The odd thing about Medlen’s play is the fact that he’s still only owned in 71 percent of said Yahoo leagues.

The fact that it’s late in the baseball season means that there are less-dedicated managers who have likely thrown in the towel on their season, so that’s certainly part of Medlen’s low ownership percentage.

Even when keeping that sad nugget of information in mind though, this pitcher has been one of the best at his position for nearly a month and still hasn’t won some mangers over.

Medlen owns a 1.71 ERA on the season and an even crazier ERA of 0.83 since becoming a starter. If for some reason you still think to yourself that Medlen is just a flash in the pan, Katie Sharp of ESPN Stats and Information recently found out that dating back to May of 2010, the Braves have won every single game that Medlen has started.

In a fantasy baseball season where the likes of Shaun Marcum and Johan Santana have been on and off the disabled list and Tim Lincecum struggling to find the strike zone, Medlen is a guy worth having on your roster.

This late in the year, managers are trying to claw their way up the standings in their leagues and one of the best ways to do that right now is to have Medlen on your roster.
Photo Credit UCirnational